The new complex will serve as the home to the school’s College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts programs from the Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance. It also will house the Gretchen Valade Jazz Center and the Jazz Underground.

A large share of the cost will be covered by bonds approved last month by school officials, and the rest is coming from private gifts. The latter includes contributions from Valade, a Detroit philanthropist and granddaughter of Carhartt Clothing’s founder.

Pending home sales rise

The pace of Americans signing contracts to buy homes picked up last month, rebounding from a drop in January. But a shortage of homes on the market continues to weigh on the housing market.

The National Association of Realtors said Wednesdy that its pending sales index rose 3.1% in February to 107.5 after tumbling 5% in January. Despite the uptick, the index is still down 4.1% from a year earlier.

Lawrence Yun, chief at economist at the association, blamed the uneven performance on a shortage of houses for sale.

Pending sales surged 10.3% in the Northeast, rose 3% in the South but eked out gains of just 0.7% in the Midwest and 0.4% in the West.

A shortage of inventory and healthy demand is pushing up housing prices. On Tuesday, Standard & Poor's said that its S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national home price index climbed 6.2% in January from a year earlier on top of a 6.3% annual gain in December.

A strong job market has given American consumers, including young millennials, the confidence to shop for homes, but the scarcity of choices means they face fierce competition as the spring home-buying season begins.

Remodelers to show off work

If you are looking to add to or renovate rooms in your home but don't know who to choose to do the work, this event might give you information to make a choice.

Ten homes in Ann Arbor and Plymouth will be showcased in the 2018 Tour of Remodeled homes, presented by NARI of Southeast Michigan on April 21-22.

The work featured ranges from kitchen remodels and additions to whole house makeovers.